Elevator will greatly increase grain storage for area

Tuesday

Apr 15, 2014 at 12:24 PM

On Monday, Mid Kansas Cooperative (MKC) offered a tour of the slip construction of the Canton Rail Terminal, a grain shuttle loader facility with the potential to load 110-car unit trains in less than 12 hours.

By Carla BarberStaff Writer

On Monday, Mid Kansas Cooperative (MKC) offered a tour of the slip construction of the Canton Rail Terminal, a grain shuttle loader facility with the potential to load 110-car unit trains in less than 12 hours.Once loaded, grain will be exported to facilities in the Pacific Northwest, Gulf Coast and Mexico. The Canton Rail Terminal is on Avenue 25, just north of U.S Highway 56 between Galva and Canton.The necessity for a new elevator developed through two paths: current and potential grain crop yield increases and the aging of available elevators, whose facilities are or soon will be requiring infrastructure improvements. The new operation will both increase storage (with a capability of 1.1 million bushels of cement storage and more than two million bushels of ground storage) and quickly move it where needed (with the capacity to load rail cars up to 80,000 bushels per hour).After multiple market studies by different companies, it became apparent the U.S. 56 corridor east of McPherson was not only short on storage space but had the potential for a facility that could access a broader market. This project is directly in line with MKC’s vision of providing market relevance, current assets and good service to its customers. The new facility will provide two scales; state-of-the-art automation; easy access and an easily maneuverable traffic pattern for all truck sizes; three truck pits, two of which will accommodate semis; one rail pit; and the ability to receive up to 60,000 bushels per hour, eliminating waiting time to dump. It also offers ample room for multiple forms of future storage. Any customer can deliver grain.All major market grains will be accepted. With the increase in soybean and corn production, the new facility will be able to handle the slower drying time that corn especially needs over wheat. Older elevators, built when wheat was practically the solo crop, weren’t designed for the slower drying times.The facility is owned 50/50 by MKC and CHS, though MKC will operate the facility like a local MKC elevator and will pay patronage at MKC rates.CHS was chosen as a partner after an extensive pool of possibilities because both are cooperatives and thus share a similar business model, both have a parallel vision, and CHS had prior railway experience, which MKC sought.While the elevator will not be fully completed until early fall, ground storage should be available this summer.To learn more about MKC, visit www.mkcoop.com.